Due to bugs, operating environment problems, corruption of the stored software program, or other conditions, software programs frequently fail to perform their designated functions. When a program fails or crashes, it must frequently be replaced with an updated version or upgrade in which the bug is fixed, or the problem must otherwise be corrected in some fashion. This often requires a human operator to interact with the computer, either locally or remotely via a network or other communication link, to either correct the problem or replace the existing, faulty software program with the corrected upgrade.
However, if the portion of the program which is faulty affects the computer's basic input/output functions, the computer may be unable to accept commands from a human operator as needed to correct or replace the software. Further, if the faulty software affects the computer's ability to connect with a remotely located computer, the human operator at the remotely located computer may be unable to establish communications with the computer in order to correct or replace the faulty software. The operator would then be required to visit the computer to solve the problem.
This problem becomes pronounced in the context of communication system spread out over a large geographic area. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a cellular wireless telecommunications system may contain a switching center 10 connected to local and long distance telephone offices, a number of base stations 12 connected to the switching center 10 and having transmitters and antennas and dispersed throughout a geographic area serviced by the system, and a number of wireless terminals 14 in wireless communication with the base stations 12. An operational software program operates the basic functions of each of the base stations 12.
If the operational software on any base station 12 is or becomes faulty, and the base station 12 fails to establish communications with the switching center 10, the operator at the switching center 10 will be unable to take any action remotely in an effort to repair or replace the base station software. In that event, the operator must personally visit the base station 12 to repair or replace the defective software. If the operational software is so faulty that the operator can not even locally interface with the base station 12 to perform basic input/output operations, more drastic measures, such as equipment or device replacement, may be needed to replace the faulty operational software in the base station 12.
The need to visit a failing base station 12 in the field places a substantial administrative burden on the system operator. This burden is exacerbated if a bug is prevalent in the copies of the operational software installed and running on all the base stations 12 in the system which prevents remotely upgrading the base station software to a new version. This event will require the operator to visit each and every station individually to repair or replace the software.
There is thus a need for a system to be able to recover from all failures of a software program from a distance, without the need to personally visit the failing computer.